1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic mold clamping apparatus for fixing a mold on the stationary and movable side mounts of a molding machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A molding machine is equipped with an automatic mold clamping apparatus for clamping a pair of supplied molds on corresponding mounts.
This automatic mold clamping apparatus is constructed to include: clamp pawls for engaging with the upper and lower portions of a mold, which is placed on support rollers of each mount, and cylinders having their rods carrying the clamp pawls thereon. The mold is clamped by actuating the cylinders to engage the clamp pawls with the mold.
However, the automatic mold clamping apparatus of the prior art described above requires an oil pressure circuit therefor in addition to the mold mating cylinder of a molding machine and the moving cylinder of an injection unit.
This makes it necessary for the molding machine to be equipped with a separate oil pressure circuit. Thus, there arises a problem that the molding machine is troubled by its reconstruction to have its production cost raised.
Moreover, the automatic mold clamping apparatus of this kind has to be equipped with a safety mechanism for preventing the clamp pawls from being disengaged in case of failure, so as to ensure safety of the worker in case of a mal-function of the oil pressure circuit. This further complicates the construction of the automatic mold clamping apparatus itself to raise the production cost additionally.